FBI Report on Russian Hacking GRIZZLY STEPPE

The FBI released a report on Russian hacking our election and helping Donald Trump become the next president of the United States.

The report is 13 pages long. Three of the pages discuss Russian hacking. The remaining pages are meant for departments and agencies to help protect against these sorts of threats.

According to the report there were two hacking events. One took place in the summer of 2015. That hack was a bit more sophisticated than the other. According to the FBI, the hack used “spearphishing campaigns leveraging web links to a malicious dropper; once executed, the code delivers Remote Access Tools (RATs) and evades detection using a range of techniques.”

The other known hack happened in the spring of 2016. That was more low-tech. It involved setting up a fake website that mimics a real website, like GMail. The victim is asked to change their password, when they do, they enter their real password first and then the hacker has it. This is the one John Podesta fell for (lack of proper security training).

Both hacks were against the Democratic party. Both involved harvesting of data, some of which was released in order to harm Hillary Clinton and help Trump.

It’s interesting that the FBI knew about these attempts to influence our election, but they were relatively quiet about it. But when the FBI found a giant nothing-burger on Clinton aide’s computer, they shouted it from the top of the tallest building 10 days before the election. The FBI, for whatever reason, was complicit in Russia’s attack on our democratic process. So view this “report” and anything the FBI communicates about this matter through that lens.